Hello once again boys and girls!
This Gal is back with her 10th
interview here on the Moonstone website!
This time we have the creative team behind the all new color mini-series
from Moonstone: Werewolves: Call of the Wild writer Mike Oliveri and artist
Joe Bucco.

Bios

Mike Oliveri

Mike Oliveri works in front of a computer all day, then goes home and writes on a computer all night (and his optometrist loves him for it). He lives in rural
Illinois with his wife, 2.5 kids, and dog. You can learn more about Mike and his various projects at
www.mikeoliveri.com.

Joe Bucco

Joe lives in Cleveland, OH doing freelance illustration from his studio along with fellow illustrator and wife Donna.

Lori G: Hi guys! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk about your new book:"Werewolves: Call of
the Wild!" So, let’s start with you
Mike. Can you tell our readers a bit
about the book? What can readers expect
when the pick up #1 in April?

Mike: Thanks for hosting this interview, Lori, I appreciate
it! As for the book, in simplest terms it's best described as a crime/revenge
thriller featuring werewolves.

In the opening pages of issue 1, Will Tyler and his fiancée
are murdered by the sheriff of a small town in the Nevada
desert. A week later, Will's brother Cole comes looking for him, and it becomes
his job to find out what happened and why. His investigation and his efforts to
make things right cover these three issues, and we're hoping fan reaction will
be strong enough to warrant doing more books. I've certainly got plenty of
stories to tell about Cole and his family.

Lori G: Mike, what is it about werewolves that appeals to
you? How is Call of the Wild both
similar to what readers may or may not know about traditional werewolf stories,
and what makes it unique?

Mike: I've always been a fan of werewolves; they're just a
cool monster. Whether you're talking about lycanthropy as a curse or as
breeding, you have this duality of man vs. beast. Sometimes we see werewolf
characters who despise that part of themselves, and others we see werewolf
characters (usually the bad guys) who revel in it, and in either case it's
frequently a metaphor for the animal in all of us. The short answer – it's a
great playground to explore as a writer, and if given the chance, I'll show you
how the different werewolf characters in these books cope with being wolves.

My werewolves themselves won't be anything earth-shattering;
I don't see any point in trying to reinvent the wheel. I don't want to spoil
too much for the readers, but I'll say that I take a more realistic (as
realistic as a fantastic beast can get, anyway) approach to the werewolves and
I do address some of the traditional elements like silver bullets and phases of
the moon, albeit subtly. It bothers me when a know-it-all character suddenly
appears and explains “the rule".

Lori G: Mike, what is your writing background?
Is this your first comic book work? Is there something particular about
comics/graphic storytelling that has “called” to you?

Mike: This is indeed my first comic work. Moonstone was also
the first place I pitched it to, and I was thrilled when you all liked it
enough to bring it into your lineup. The Moonstone line is very
horror-friendly, so I thought it would be a perfect starting point.

I've been appearing off and on in the horror small press
with short stories and novellas for about seven years now, and my novel,
Deadliest of the Species, won the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel for works
published in 2001. I've been reading comics for going on 30 years now, and my
prose style is typically very visual, so this was both a natural progression
and a dream come true. While I won't be giving up on prose fiction any time
soon, I do hope to keep working in comics.

Lori G: Joe, you are penciling, inking AND coloring the
book. That has to be a lot of work! Do you find it easier to be the man behind
ALL of the art, rather than just the colorist or the penciler?
Do you approach the work differently because
you are the only artist involved?

Joe: Hey Lori. Yeah
it’s quite a bit of work. But it is
worth it. Being able to handle the art
alone does guarantee your creative vision, because as you begin to draw out the
page you start to see it in your head where you want it to go.
I do enjoy the collaborative process, and
would love to see how someone else would handle inking or coloring my
pencils. I do think I approach the art
differently. I like to keep my pencils
tight and put quite a bit of the detail in at that point.
If someone else was inking my work, I’d like
to be a bit looser and let him/her put in their influence.

Lori G: Joe, I know you were the colorist on a few issues of
the Phantom here at Moonstone, what else have you worked in the comics
industry?

Joe:Well my first
work was adapting and illustrating a T.V. pilot into a graphic novel to sell it
to Networks. It was called ZERO.POINT. I illustrated a graphic novel called
EVERYMAN: BE THE PEOPLE, written by Dan and Steve Goldman. Recently I did an 8-page story in the
anthology SATANS THREE RING CIRCUS. And of course I now have the first issue of
CotW under my belt.

Lori G: Joe, did you base your character designs on any
“real” people? Friends, Hollywood
actors, yourself? Where do you find your
greatest inspiration?

Joe: Well in the
past from each writer I have gotten direction on what they want, and it has
been influenced by actors who the writer thinks looks like the character.
I also use some photo reference, so
occasionally the characters might have some influence from the models. As for
influences, of course I love comics and its niche, but I also look at trends in
editorial illustration, graphic design, and other forms of art.

Lori G: Mike, how about you?
What are your influences, both comic book influences and prose
influences?

Mike: My tastes run all over the board, as I read everything
from fantasy and science fiction to horror to crime/suspense and military
thrillers, and I often gravitate toward the same kinds of things in any medium,
so I tend to pick and choose different elements of different creators' works or
styles. I like the way Clive Barker ties horror and fantasy together, and I'm a
big fan of Richard Laymon's relentless, frenetic pacing. I like great dialog,
and I wish I had half the ear for it guys like Brian Azzarello and Quentin
Tarantino do. I dig Warren Ellis for his sheer imagination. I recently read an
early Alan Moore run on Swamp Thing and re-read V for Vendetta, and I just love
the way his scripts and plots unfold.

Lori G: Mike, what readers are you trying to appeal to, with
this new series: Call of the Wild? Vertigo fans, horror fans, LOL I won’t try to guess, you tell me who the
target audience is!

Mike: I think the Vertigo fans is an easy answer, but if
you'll permit a broader answer, I'd say anyone who likes crime or horror. We've
got werewolves and enough bloodshed to whet the horror fans' appetite, yet the
meat of the story is a people-driven crime thriller. So I say step right up,
one and all, because you're gonna dig it.

Lori G: Joe, the covers for Call of the Wild are very
nice! A rather minimalist approach, as
far as comic covers go. It reminds me of
the whole “less is more” theory! I also
like the color selection, is there a reason you chose to draw the cover to #1,
as you did? LOL, I might be
over-analyzing it here, and I apologize if I have.
Just give me some insight into your creative
process…

Joe:Oh, no
problem. I just took an approach a
trying something a bit different, at least different than the dark covers you
might see on most horror books. Something that would stand out. I did have some influence from an artist
whose work I enjoy, Dave Johnson. The
covers simple, yet has some layers that tell a little of a story.

Lori G: Back to you Mike. I find it intriguing that your story is both a murder-mystery AND a
werewolf story.Was this a conscience
effort on your part, trying to incorporate elements of two different genres
into one story?

Mike: Yes it was. My biggest problem with genre fiction is
works tend to stay within their own boundaries. As such, when I was developing
the story and saw the opportunity to mix the two, I went for it. Sure, it helps
that it gives me two core audiences to hunt down rather than just one, but I
think the combination makes the story more interesting. I think shoe-horning a
story into a specific genre only does it a disservice.

Lori G: And now, I’m going to shoot this back to you
Joe! (Just when you thought it was safe
to go back to drawing!) Are you drawing this book in the traditional way,
pencils first, then inks? Or are you
skipping around a bit since you don’t have to hand it off to a different inker?

Joe: Yeah, it’s definitely done traditionally.
Layouts, pencils, inks, color, lettering.
Even though I’m doing all the aspects of the art, it’s definitely a
building of layers.

Lori G: Joe, are you also lettering Call of the Wild, or is
there someone else handling the lettering chores? (I thought you might be doing the letters
too, since you seem to be multi-talented).

Joe: Well first, thanks for the "multi-talented" compliment.
Yes, I am lettering the book. I try hard to put effort into everything I do.
It helps to have experience doing more than one thing, so when someone comes to you and asks "can you do this" you don't have to worry about saying yes and then trying to figure it out.

Lori G: this question is for both of you!
I just have to ask, if you could have ONE
super power, what would it be and why?

Mike: I'd say flight but I'm terrified of heights. Instead
I'll go with telekinesis, because I'm relatively short and I'm a little lazy.
With telekinesis, I can get things off the top shelf without having to leave
the computer.

Joe:Oh my, that
question. That’s always a tough one. I
always get greedy and try to figure out a way to get a two-for-one deal.
At first I thought super speed, then flight,
and of course super strength. But I
think it would be telekinesis. With that
I guess I could simulate all those powers.

Lori G: I’ve got another question for both of you!
What is your current favorite comic title
and, more importantly, why do you love it so?

Mike: 100 Bullets. As I said above, I just love Azzarello's
ear for dialog. I also like his plotting and his characters, and I think
Eduardo Risso's dark artwork is a perfect complement. I started collecting this
book late, and I still kick myself over it.

Joe:Hmmmmm….Well
there a lots of good ones out there, but I am going to give an edge to
Astonishing X-MEN. It seems to bring me
back to when I first started collecting comics when John Romita Jr./Paul Smith
were drawing them in the early 80’s.

Lori G: One more question for both of you.
Do you have any other projects in the works
that you want to let our readers know about?
(Or have you been just too gosh-darn busy with this mini-series to have
time to even conceive of any other project?)

Mike: I've teamed up with two other horror writers to launch
a site called Muy Mal (www.muymal.com),
where we are posting serialized fiction for free. We each have 2 or 3
concurrent serials and all three of us are writing within the same horror/dark
fantasy universe. Both of my current serials, “Bastard Precinct” and Down
Vendetta Road, have a crime element. Beyond that
I have two short stories and a novella coming up in a couple of Cemetery Dance
anthologies, I'm working on a novella to wrap a trilogy, and I'm always
hammering away at that next novel.

Joe:Actually
Yes. There’s one project that I just
completed that I’d didn’t mention earlier.
I illustrated a 19-page story in an anthology called TALES OF THE
STAR-LIGHT DRIVE-IN, written by Mike SanGiacomo.
It’s an amazing collection of stories.
Originally it was supposed to come out
through Speakeasy but since they’re done for, Mike’s searching for a new
publisher. So cross your fingers.

________________________________________________________________

Lori G: Well guys, I can’t thank you enough for taking the
time to chat with me! I hope everyone
reading this runs right out and picks up a copy of Call of the Wild #1 when it
hits shelves in April! If you can’t find
it at your LCS, they can order it from your LCS using this code: Feb063172, OR
you can order it right here on the Moonstone website!
That’s it for now, children, and as always
thanks for your support.

Make Mine Moonstone!
(No, I DID NOT steal this tag line from another company, they stole it
from me!)